The Exchange
by Gabby-kun
Summary: Ranma and Akane are both offered a deal involving great power. Except there's a VERY high price to pay. Neither of them is willing to make the exchange. But when one of them is tricked into consigning, it's a done deal!


**The Exchange**

** by Gabby-kun**

**Di****sclaimer:**_ I am not the mastermind behind Ranma 1/2. No, Rumiko Takahashi is responsible. So blame her._

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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

Ranma couldn't have been more terrified. His breaths came out in harsh gusts as he rushed along the empty street. On this early winter morning, the air was tinged with a sharp chill. Still an hour too early for sunlight, the streets remained nocturnal, only the faint radiance of navy blue lighting his surroundings. The young martial artist hadn't even had the opportunity to fold his scarf properly before rushing out. Instead it hung lopsidedly around his neck as one end flailed against his thigh. His scarf was the _least_ of his worries though.

Usually, he and his fiancee would not have gotten up so early on a day they didn't have school. But five weeks earlier had they changed their routine. And this hadn't been the only change. Because now on this cold, stilled morning Ranma Saotome ran along the street while Akane Tendo paced above him atop the fence.

_It's too early for this_, Ranma thought. His heart pounded more urgently against his rib cage. At his current speed, it hadn't taken him long to catch up to her. "Akane!" With one swift leap, he landed behind her on the fence. Her feet now scurrying faster, Akane broke into a complete jog across the thin metal rail. Only milliseconds passed before she felt strong, secure hands tackle her waist. Another swift movement occured that made Akane feel like she was falling but much to her relief she, next, found her feet planted firmly on the ground.

An icy wind whipped by. Akane slowly turned to face Ranma, forcing him to release his solid grip at her sides. She had already half-anticipated the look that was waiting for her, so it hadn't surprised her. But regardless, the intensity of the steel-blue eyes now boring through her had an effect. She addressed her pig-tailed fiance with an innocent smile.

"I finally did it," she exclaimed. "I can balance along the fence!"

Ranma's features only softened a _little_. His obvious fear and anger had dwindled into pure scolding and he somewhat looked like a disappointed father. "What did I tell you, Akane?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah...I should wait until my arm heals...But in my defense, it doesn't even hurt anymore. And Doctor Tofu said that the cast may come off next week."

Frowning, Ranma gently fingered the cast through the sleeve of her baggy, gray sweatshirt. He winced at disturbing flashbacks of Akane standing before him with blood running down her neck and chest from a nasty gash on her chin. A large bandage now patched up the wound of this incidence. But it constantly reminded Ranma of it everytime he looked at her.

Another flashback followed, this one from when they had received the phone call from the clinic saying Akane had broken her arm. Both memories pricked guilt and worry in him, since he hadn't been there to prevent either one.

Ranma's dazed pupils hauled away from her arm as the flashbacks ended and he met her care-free gaze. He couldn't help but search her eyes for the source of this new stubbornness. He knew Akane had always been driven. And there was nothing wrong with that. In fact, it was one of the things he admired most about her. But driven to a point where you lost all regard for your own safety was unacceptable. He had only agreed to train her five weeks ago and already he was seeing the consequences of it.

"Akane...Please. You've already fallen twice."

Suddenly, Akane's proud facade vanished and she looked away to avoid his gaze. In reality it had been _more_ than just twice. _A lot_ more than just twice. As a matter of fact, she had actually mastered walking along the fence earlier that week. But she knew Ranma would've flipped if he had known she'd been practicing while she was injured.

Ranma had gotten suspicions that Akane found time to practice when he wasn't around. And it worried him. He also had a feeling that she had gotten alot more injuries than he knew about. He couldn't necessarily be angry with her because he knew he was partially responsible. His foot-in-the-mouth syndrome always came back to bite him in the rear.

_Three weeks earlier..._

Crossing her arms over her chest, Akane scoffed. "I don't care what you say, Ranma. I'm not doing it. So you can just forget about it." She turned her nose away from the arrogant boy. Ranma's foot grazed the squeaky floorboard beneath him. He crossed his arms also. "Fine. Guess you don't want my help then."

Akane scowled. "You can't be serious!"

Shrugging, he couldn't stop the corner of his mouth from jerking upward in a smirk. Akane growled. Even though she knew this was just one of his poor methods of flirting with her, it still irritated her that he wouldn't take this seriously. Her martial arts abilities was nothing to joke about.

Or at least not for anyone except Ranma.

She honestly took a moment to consider his suggestion. But after her better judgement kicked in and she realized how utterly ridiculous it was, she balled her fists. "No! Forget it! I'm not calling you _Sensei_, Ranma."

Nonchalantly, he shrugged again. "Okay. Suit yourself."

In spite of her previous decision, her mouth slightly hung open. She couldn't believe him. All she asked was that he trained her a little. "Er...Well..Fine! I dont need your help anyway. I'm pretty sure someone else would be willing to train me."

Through the corner of her eye, she saw Ranma cringe at the last sentence. He turned to face her. "W-Who?" He would have liked to see her try and find someone whose skills exceeded his own.

Akane scanned her mind for possible options. "...It doesn't matter who. But since I'm not worth your time, you don't have to worry about it."

Stiffening, Ranma stated "I never said that." He hated it when she put words in his mouth.

"Well, you may as well have."

A period of uncomfortable silence passed and neither of them looked at each other. Ranma sighed. All of his previous taunting spirit had faded. "...What do you want me to teach you, Akane?" As he saw it, she was lacking in so many areas, it was hard to tell where to start.

She looked up. "...Huh?...You mean, you'll do it?"

He shuffled closer to her. His features molded as firmly as he could managed. "Only under two conditions."

"And what would _those_ be?" she finished through gritted teeth.

"...One, you never ask me to hit you...And Two, you don't ask anyone..._anyone_ else. You got that?"

He didn't need a verbal reply from her because the way her face lit up said it all.

Balance was one vital area Ranma decided she needed improvement in first. Though her clumsiness could be _cute_ at times, it was one critical factor that could easily ruin any martial artist during a fight. Just your stance and steadiness alone could mean the difference between gaining the upper hand and suffering.

Learning to balance on the fence was Akane's idea. Her fiance did it regularly, but she hadn't taken the time to actually pay it mind until just recently. He did it so gracefully and effortlessly. It was as if he didn't even have to think about what he was doing. As if it was just second nature. She watched him and suggested that he teached her how to do it similarly. Ranma had rejected the idea completely. Just for the simple fact of how much practice it took to master it. Now, it wasn't necessarily the "practicing" part that worried him.

It was because through practice also came failing. (Or in this case, _falling_.) She just wasn't ready for it yet.

But Ranma's protest had fallen upon deaf ears because Akane, as eager as ever, tried it. He was by her side the entire time. And expectantly, after taking her first step her body struggled to steady its weight. She panicked as she felt herself leaning without her control. Her arms flailed back and forth wildly, attempting to steady herself. With no success. As her feet lost their place on the rail, Akane shut her eyes tight, not really sure what she was anticipating. Thats when she felt her body collide with a solid figure. When her eyes opened she was pressed tightly against Ranma's chest, only a few feet from the ground. Her eyes slowly - reluctantly - found his. Ranma didn't appear the least bit staggered. "Baka," he spat. "You never listen."

Akane tried it about eight more times that day. Afterwhich, she had managed to accomplish no more than three steps, before falling. And Ranma was there to catch her every single time. But never without scolding her for being so stubborn and clumsy. It wasn't that easy. Didn't she get that?

But the more he caught her and insulted her, the more it fueled Akane's determination. It wasn't fair how Ranma could continuously make it look so simple everyday. She was going to master it even if it _killed_ her.

She began adding it to her scheduled training. And she found that she liked practicing a lot more when Ranma wasn't around. One reason being, he wasn't there to break her concentration with his impatient grunts and smart aleck remarks. (Another being, she didn't have to worry about embarrassing herself.) After about a week and a half, using baby steps, she could travel one-third of the fence's distance. It seemed like the pavement took more of a beating than she did from being hit so much. But with every fall, Akane crawled back to her feet and shook it off. No matter what bruises or scrapes or scratches came as a result. And she made sure to treat them before she got home.

Everything went fine up until her first serious fall. Her chin had made a harsh impact with the ground, splitting it open. And though it had required stitches, the damage wasn't too bad. She would never forget how concerned Ranma had been when she had first returned home. He had even tried to treat the injury himself. But after seeing that his gauze and disinfectant was doing very little repair, he escorted her to the clinic.

After that day, Ranma insisted on following her to make sure she didn't try it again. But Akane assured him she had no interest in doing so. She had lost her drive.

A brutal fall was enough to make you lose determination, but only for so long. A week later, Akane continued her training.

After two weeks of trying it about ten times a day, she could finally walk the entire distance of the fence. She had been so ecstatic with her accomplishment that she just had to try it again.

Her excitement and pride must have _blinded_ her because she suffered her second fall. And this time the pain was much too great to just brush off.

_Present day..._

"I just don't want you to push yourself," he finished telling her. He started to consider changing his mind about the training.

Akane finally found the courage to look him in the eye. She knew he probably thought that she was taking it too far. But if there was one thing Akane Tendo had learned, it was that hard work payed off. And she was positive that, from his own experiences, Ranma knew that as well. She just wanted him to be proud of her.

"Hey..." she said suddenly. She happened to notice the yellow yarn-knitted article hanging from his shoulders. Why she was just now recognizing it, she wasn't sure. Reaching for it, she said "This...This is the scarf I made you last Christmas."

Ranma looked down at it. "Yeah...What about it?"

Eyes twinkling endearingly, she met his gaze. "Y-You...kept it...all this time?"

Ranma felt a lump form in his throat and swallowed. "Um...I...Well, ya see..." Sheepishly, he rubbed the back of his head. He stopped and watched Akane as she repositioned the scarf and folded it correctly around his neck. He shivered when her cool knuckles brushed his flesh. After she had finished she stared at her progress and giggled. She knew it had only been a year ago, but standing here looking at the poorly knitted mesh, brought back crazy memories.

Ranma bared his own smile. "What's so funny?"

"Ah...Nothing."

Their eyes remained focused on one another, even as they ran out of things to say. This gave Ranma the opportunity to examine her. And as he did, his smile quickly fell into a small frown. "What're you, _crazy_? What were you thinking comin' out here without a coat?" He tugged at the sleeve of her sweatshirt for emphasis. "You'll get sick."

Akane looked down at the over-sized shirt. It was only fourty degrees out, but the shirt did its part in keeping her warm, no matter how thin it appeared. "I can't train in a heavy coat," she reminded.

_Train_, Ranma thought. The word caused him to glance over at the fence that had been causing so much trouble the last few weeks. As he stared at it, all the current events came back to him.

_Train_, he mused again. He turned his attention back towards the blue-haired girl before him. Watching how enthusiastic she got about it, reminded him of himself; Six years ago when he had balanced on the fence for the very first time. He smirked at the memory of losing his balance and hitting the ground hundreds of times. His father was always in the background, shouting encouraging (and sometimes _discouraging_) words to make him shake it off and get back up. And Ranma did. Every single time. "Akane... All this time you've been practicing, haven't you?"

She gave a half-hearted shrug. "...You said I needed to improve. And I did...Now can you please train me for real?"

His eyebrow arched. "What? Running and falling off of a fence isn't enough _training_ for you?"

"Ranma! I'm serious."

He sighed. "I was just kidding... Your balance has improved. I'll give ya that. Though you still need help in other areas. So...I guess we'll work on those, okay?"

A smile spread over her features.

Though Ranma's expression remained serious. "But... If I start being too hard on you...just tell me..."

Akane waved him off. "Don't worry about that. When will we start?"

"...I guess as soon as your arm heals." She glanced down at the stiff mass hidden under her cotton sleeve. Oh yeah, she thought. She had almost forgotten about it. Sometimes she just wished she could tear the cast away and move on. Not to mention, she still had to gain her mobility back. She peered back up at her fiance. "Give me _three_ days and I'll be ready," she told him.

...

Thick, heavy clouds swelled overhead, growing ash gray and pewter. A deep moisture coated the air. The wet soil and plants produced earthy scents. Tiny droplets of icy water fell and added an extra does of chilliness to the atmosphere. Akane stared at the lightning flashing in the distance. Maybe today hadn't necessarily been the best day to set off on a trip. But the weather for the past couple of days hadn't been any better. As far as they were concerned, it wouldn't _get_ any better. Ranma groaned and stared up at the dreadful rain clouds that piled over head. He could already feel the cold droplets sinking through his silk shirt and piercing his skin. He would have at least liked to remain a guy for the moment.

"Stupid Pops, Stupid Mr. Tendo..." he mumbled.

Akane sighed in exasperation. Sometimes she just wished she could tie the two up and ship them off to China. At least that way, Ranma and herself wouldn't end up trapped in any more of their pathetic ploys for marriage.

So she had made a mistake. Maybe she shouldn't have told them that she was working to improve her skills as a martial artist. But after breaking her arm, they were all curious as to what her intention had been. And then maybe Ranma shouldn't have included the fact that he was now training her.

Because then a "brilliant idea" surfaced out of the blue. Soun and Genma suggested a training trip for the two. They insisted that the two take off as soon as Akane's injuries healed. Ranma began to protest why they would want to take a trip this time of year. But before he could even argue his case, they were already conjuring perfect locations for the couple.

None of the locations named were even relevent to martial arts, Akane noticed. A training trip didn't necessarily sound terrible. It definitely would have been an advantage while she was trying to improve. But Ranma and her settled on choosing their _own_ location.

Akane took the map from Ranma's grip and scanned over it herself. "How much further do we have to go?"

The pig-tailed martial artist was too busy sulking about the predicted rainfall to hear. Nerima's boundaries had been exceeded a while back. She stared at the circled destination on the map. Kitsune Training Grounds was their chosen goal. Ranma recalled training there several times with his father as a kid. It was in a small village located in southern Tokyo. The environment was beautiful, the villagers were hospitable, and it was a lot less risky than a few _other_ training grounds he had visited. If Akane was reading the map correctly, their next path would lead them around a body of water. Akane removed the map from her line of vision, revealing the lake that they were so hazardously positioned over. The sight overwhelming her, she cautiously stepped back from the cliff. Chunks of rock grinded under her boot.

"S-So...the village is on the other side of the lake?" she asked.

"Uh-huh." Ranma now took in the sight along with her. They had a pretty accurate view of their path. Below, the lake was surrounded by miles of cedar trees in every direction until they faded in the distance. Somewhere miles ahead, the tips of buildings and rock forms peaked over the shady wood, providing a preview of the opposite side.

Ranma turned to study his fiancee's pale reaction. He chuckled. "Relax, Akane. It's not like we're gonna swim across."

She laughed nervously. Of course she knew they weren't going to swim. Still... There was always something about large bodies of water that sent a vigilant rattle down her spine. She still had never learned how to swim properly. And to think all she had to do was lose her balance a little and...

Thunder rumbled loudly enough to jar them both into alertness.

"Can we get going?" she muttered. Shoving the map into his hands, she adjusted her baggage to where her injured arm wouldn't have to bare weight. Ranma watched her. "I still say you shouldn't have taken your cast off."

Restraining against the pain, Akane sunk her teeth into her bottom lip. She forced her stiff muscles to flex, then extend. "It's not that bad. Once I loosen up, I'll be fine."

"...If you say so..." Lightning flashed, being blanketed by thick ashy clouds. Followed by more thundering cracks.

Ranma gave off a cry of anxiety as water showered down, pounding against the earth. His tenor voice fluttered before hiking to soprano. A smaller, curvier figure remained, now confined in loose clothing and soaked crimson hair. Akane used her own baggage to try and shield herself from the rain. Figures. They had packed everything _except_ umbrellas.

"Come on, Ranma. The sooner we get there, the sooner you can change back."

He exhaled. He couldn't have agreed with her more.

...

Thanks for reading. I know. I shouldn't be starting more stories. I'm sorry. But once I get an idea I have to get it out of the idea box before I lose _it_ along with my motivation. I managed to finish this in one day, which is something I've never managed to do for my other stories. Anyway, this chapter is simply the prologue or set up for the plot. But let me know what you think of it. Next, I'll update Desperate Measures.

Please review. Ciao.


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